Florence Pugh steals the show in Black Widow
In theaters and streaming on Disney+ with premier access.
The Short Take:
Despite being more family adventure than spy thriller, Black Widow quenches a summer blockbuster thirst. Excellent casting.
The Long Take:
[Note: Most of this review will not contain spoilers. At the very end, though, I’ll give fair warning before I discuss the post-credits scene and its implications for the MCU.]
I am ready for the age of Florence Pugh.
Black Widow as a film is fine, and I’ll get to that later. But Florence Pugh, who plays Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow’s younger sister, Yelena, radiates so much star power that she overshadows Scarlett Johansson, for whom this film is presumably designed to showcase.
Awkward.
And it’s not as though ScarJo is bad. I’ve always enjoyed her as Black Widow, especially in her scenes with Chris Evans’ Captain America. Her stoicism and restraint make her a badass super spy Avenger. Disney+ has these little primer montages called “Marvel Legends.” They compile clips of key characters featured in upcoming titles so viewers can refresh their memories. I recommend watching the one for Black Widow, not necessarily because you need it to understand the film, but because that interrogation scene she has with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki in The Avengers (2012) proves what an asset both character and actress have been.
So, it’s just that Florence Pugh is THAT good. She is laugh out loud funny, utterly charming, and brings that signature Marvel levity. She won me over almost immediately. Pugh also shows incredible range, flipping the switch from tough to vulnerable in a way that feels very natural. The lines she has reflecting on her childhood, for example, cut to the quick. I knew Pugh had acting chops from her performance as Amy in Little Women. But I had no idea she could hang with high octane action as if she’s been doing these kinds of films for years.
In ScarJo’s defense, Flo Pugh has all the good lines, and she gets to be the fun, snarky one. Yelena openly mocks her sister for flipping her hair when she lands, calling her a “poser.” She passionately brags about how her new vest is “so cool” because it has “so many pockets.” Meanwhile, Nat has to be the more type A, overachiever who takes life too seriously. Juxtapose the two personalities and the stoicism that was a strength in Avengers films seems like a shortcoming here. And that’s not entirely fair.
The casting overall, independent of Pugh stealing the show, makes this film a good/interesting blockbuster rather than a completely mindless or hollow one. Good actors make the family dynamic work. And the family dramedy sets this apart from say, a Steven Seagal movie or, dare I say, one of the lesser Bond films. David Harbor is delightful as Natasha and Yelena’s dad, even though — or perhaps because — he’s really hamming it up in every scene. Rachel Weisz’s character, Melina, was a little underwritten; I just never felt like I understood her motivations enough. But Weisz herself still had a compelling screen presence. The central quartet of Johansson, Pugh, Harbor, and Weisz harmonize through the chaos and tension of a complicated, multilayered espionage family reunion. I found their bickering and heart-to-hearts quite endearing.
So where does that leave me in terms of general recommendations? Subscribers to Disney plus can pay an extra thirty dollars to stream a new release in their homes. Should they? If you’re a fan of Marvel movies (and now TV) like me, Disney pretty much has you right where they want you: you’re either going to see Black Widow in theaters, or you’ll pay extra to watch it at home, if you can. If only to avoid spoilers on the Internet.
If you’re only casually interested or mildly invested in Marvel, I’d say the prequel in which Natasha Romanoff confronts her past is worth seeing now just to get that summer blockbuster feeling. As far as popcorn action movies go, this is a good one, and, unlike most comic book movies, it doesn’t require any prior knowledge to enjoy. If you’re just looking for some explosions, choreographed fights, and heroes jumping out of aircraft, this will do the trick. But, if you’re not missing big budget thrill rides this summer, you can wait.
[SPOILER WARNING: I’m about to go into MCU nerd theory corner, so pull your rip cord if you haven’t seen the film yet. And make sure you catch the post-credits scene too.]
Did this film make me care more about Natasha Romanoff? Not profoundly. Did it imprint Florence Pugh onto me for future MCU films? For the reasons I mentioned earlier, YES. And, considering that Black Widow is a prequel that seems late to the phase 3 party more than the first entry into phase 4, that might be the right play.
The post-credits scene supports this idea by showing us that Yelena is actively employed as an assassin. She visits Natasha’s grave after Endgame, whistling their Hunger Games-esque bird call in honor of her sister. But then Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine interrupts this emotional scene to…give Yelena her next assignment!?! The only other time we’ve seen “Val,” played by the singularly dazzling Julia Louis Dreyfus, was when she recruited the Captain America turned US Agent played by Wyatt Russell in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
What clues can we glean from this brief cameo? Well, the pattern now forming of Val employing multiple superhero-level agents or at least operating as their handler, shores up the idea that a shadow organization of some kind — some say the Thunderbolts, others say the Dark Avengers — will play a prominent role in phase 4. Since General Ross, who is known as “Thunderbolt Ross” in the comics gets a bunch of screen time in Black Widow, I’d put my money on the Thunderbolts as a more morally gray alternative to the Avengers.
Regardless of who she’s working for, it’s very likely that Yelena is going to take Natasha’s place in future films/series. Her next target is none other than Hawkeye, which to me sets up a nice mirror image of the Natasha/Clint backstory. Instead of Clint coming after Natasha and then deciding she’s worth sparing, Yelena will likely hunt down Cliff only to befriend him.
The prospect of Yelena taking on the Black Widow alias in honor of her late sister is exciting, but I have one complaint about this stinger: Val’s reasoning doesn’t hold up. She opportunistically appeals to Yelena’s sense of grief by saying that she can kill the man who’s responsible for Natasha’s death. But based on the events on Vormir in Endgame, I don’t think you can really say Black Widow’s death is Hawkeye’s fault. She chose to sacrifice herself, and blaming Hawkeye removes some of her agency in a way I don’t like. But if this is the stretch to make in order to get me more Yelena, I can accept it as a means to an end.